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I'd still buy an iPhone though, and I said originally that the iPhone was an everyday classic design.
I stand by it. Totally different phone, no "classic iphone" about it. Therefore not an every day classic.
Record G-clamp
Fwiw there were other phones with a very similar form factor before the iPhone - Apple didn't do anything that new or revolutionary with the form. The things that they did well were marketing and usability for non tekkies. Its success as a product is what defines it as the start of the smart phone era, not the fact that it was a rectangle with a touchscreen and minimal buttons.
Trangia.
id argue that the telecaster is a design classic.
it was very easy to manufacture from generic tools, and worked perfectly straight out of the box.
how did it price, compared to a tv in late 40’s USA?
never owned one, but people will clutch their zippo’s till their final, exasperated breath.
ring-pulls on drinks cans?
how did it price, compared to a tv in late 40’s USA?
Telecaster was 230 dollars in 1951. Cheapest tvwas about 150. Very expensive.
Again though as classic as it is its not an everyday classic is it. There isn't one sitting in most houses just quietly getting on with its job.
My Gaggia Classic although its not getting used just now as I do like my Silvia but might sorn her tonight and get the Classic fired up for a few months
Wooden deck chair.
Stanley Steelmaster hammer.
Came on to say UK road signs but was beaten by Moab 😀
Then I thought a hammer and got beaten by cakeface 😅
The UK road signs history is an 'interesting' read for a rainy afternoon....
Worboys Committee on Road Signage - Wikipedia
https://share.google/2sdf1cHECRbUphp51
The humble BS 1363 plug.
Safe as anything and a spectacular anti personnel caltrop
Along with Lego bricks; another simple modelling item that’s become an iconic design classic. And stealthy anti-personnel weapon… 😖🤬
I wanted one of the old industrial angle poise lamps for my shed until I saw how much they go for
I’ve got one I ‘borrowed’ from a former employer that went bust, mine has a light fitting that takes a short fluorescent tube - I keep meaning to measure it and get an LED replacement and get it back into use.
Its got consistently bigger to the point where its now absolutely massive. Its just a bloated device to lure in consumers. Its unique selling point is it does thing that they tell their customers they want.
*rolls eyes* Clearly avoiding mentioning the fact that all the competition are doing exactly the same thing. They all got where they are by slavishly copying the iPhone, because the phone that Google were planning on releasing with the Android OS at the point Jobs announced the first iPhone was a slavish knock-off of the Blackberry, whereupon all Android phones became a flat glass-fronted slab with a touchscreen.*
As for size, they still make smaller versions, and I can use my 16 Pro Max to take photos single-handed, the only time I need two hands is for inputting information.
*Fact.
Its got consistently bigger to the point where its now absolutely massive. Its just a bloated device to lure in consumers. Its unique selling point is it does thing that they tell their customers they want.
*rolls eyes* Clearly avoiding mentioning the fact that all the competition are doing exactly the same thing. They all got where they are by slavishly copying the iPhone, because the phone that Google were planning on releasing with the Android OS at the point Jobs announced the first iPhone was a slavish knock-off of the Blackberry, whereupon all Android phones became a flat glass-fronted slab with a touchscreen.*
As for size, they still make smaller versions, and I can use my 16 Pro Max to take photos single-handed, the only time I need two hands is for inputting information.
*Fact.
my simple statement was they are not an every day design classic because there simply isn't a single iphone that fits the definition given.
I don't disagree with any of your points. I haven't said anywhere that they're not an iconic design or that they didn't change the way we use phones over night.
The original is quite obviously and absolut game changer and deserves recognition.
But they are constantly evolving so you can't or atleast would be unwise to replace your 10 year old one with an identical one.
Iphone is a brand not a single "classic design"
Black and Decker Workmate. It may have been improved upon by Black and Decker (and imitators) over the years, but I think I'm right in thinking it was the original, and the basic design still stands up today as a easy portable solution for the home DIYer. 
You're arguing semantics now. Which may (arguably) be a point worth arguing? "The iPhone definitely is an iconic design but definitely is not a classic design." 🤷♂️
How do you feel about the Zippo mentioned earlier, or the Maglite? Design classics? Both are pretty crap functionality wise. I had a Zippo for a while, it leaked fuel vapour so badly that it gave me a rash on my leg next to the pocket and by the time I'd come to needing to use it it would be dry. It made for a great fidget toy though. The beam from a Maglite is poor even with a LED upgrade option fitted.
I see your Zippo and raise you the humble but universal Zip.
How do you feel about the Zippo mentioned earlier, or the Maglite? Design classics? Both are pretty crap functionality wise. I had a Zippo for a while, it leaked fuel vapour so badly that it gave me a rash on my leg next to the pocket and by the time I'd come to needing to use it it would be dry.
When I was a smoker, about 30 years ago now, I had a number of Zippo's over the years, with various engravings from different ships etc. They were l great, didn't leak significantly and lit nearly every time.
In fact I still have an unused one, in it's box, from SS Canberra. They are lovely things.
A Parker Jotter ballpoint pen. I totally agree with a Bic Biro, but they are essentially seen as disposable, whereas a Parker can be durable.
But they are constantly evolving so you can't or atleast would be unwise to replace your 10 year old one with an identical one.
The design classic is the form; simple glass and metal slab coupled with the way of entering and navigating information.
That has been copied by all smart phone makers and hasn't been significantly improved upon since the initial design. Sure they come in different sizes, but so do lots of other design classics e.g. the Moka Pot, Different Colour pic pens and different size billy book cases. The available variations does not mean that they are not design classics.
The humble BS 1363 plug.
I take it you don't travel much?
It's fine for big stuff like washing machines but nowadays on smaller devices you realise how ridiculously bulky UK plugs are compared to European ones
Aeropress
As above.
double bubble
...and 
The round wheel? Square ones never really caught on.
The humble BS 1363 plug.
Safe as anything and a spectacular anti personnel caltrop
The reason the UK has those plugs was because we had really crap consumer units. There was little or no protection from RCDs and MCBs just fuses.
The rest of Europe had them way before we did.
I bought a house in 1999 which had a CU which still had the old school fuse wire, which had to be wound on the terminals.
When I was a smoker, about 30 years ago now, I had a number of Zippo's over the years, with various engravings from different ships etc. They were l great, didn't leak significantly and lit nearly every time.
Different use cases though. Mine probably got used once a month rather than multiple times a day.
When I was a smoker, about 30 years ago now, I had a number of Zippo's over the years, with various engravings from different ships etc. They were l great, didn't leak significantly and lit nearly every time.
Different use cases though. Mine probably got used once a month rather than multiple times a day.
Well they were never designed to be used like that.
Why did you carry it all the time, to point of affecting your skin, if you only used it once a month?
The humble BS 1363 plug.
Safe as anything and a spectacular anti personnel caltrop
The reason the UK has those plugs was because we had really crap consumer units. There was little or no protection from RCDs and MCBs just fuses.
The rest of Europe had them way before we did.
I bought a house in 1999 which had a CU which still had the old school fuse wire, which had to be wound on the terminals.
They were created to be used on a ring main which saved lots of copper. The fuse allowed more stuff to run on a single ring and different current requirements to run on the same ring. But there os far more impressive design in them than the fact they contain the fuse.
The UK has had mandatory requirements for RCD for longer than a fair number of european countries
They don't go live until the earth connects (and they are earthed)
If you yank the cable out the last core to break is the earth.
Speaking of yanking, if you pull the outer out and expose the inners the inners insulation is long enough to prevent exposure to live bare cores.
The socket is is physically shuttered until the earth is pushed in.
The live and neutral pins are insulated until they disconnect from the main. Which also means you can't do the "wrap a bare wire round the pins and push it almost all the way in"
The main cable is clamped. At 90 degrees so they can't be pulled out by the cable easily.
Three pins also means there is a single polarity orientation.
They pretty much designed stupid out and safety in. they are used worldwide. You only have to wobble a two pin socket to see its shonky.
The bulk can be dealt with, plenty of phone charger examples. The iphone is a pretty decent example.
Elu router. Was gifted one by a friend. Much prefer it over any Festool offering.
The one litre Tetrapak.
Paperclip
I'm tempted to set up a photo of all the things I've got that are mentioned here: that Workmate, that calculator, the original Anglepoise, my two Gaggia classics (getting old so always need one on the subs' bench) my Tikki pens, Stanley knife, Telecaster and to top it all maybe an ancient Sabatier rusty-blade knife and a le Crueset pan. And my 1951 Rolex Oyster.
All in almost daily use.
Aeron chair - I live in them!
Inspired by the steel pipe beinding thread, the sheffield bike stand. Such a simple idea but you realise how good it is at what it does every time you try to lock your bike to something where somebody has tried to be more clever about it.
Why did you carry it all the time, to point of affecting your skin, if you only used it once a month?
Because I... used it once a month? Fire is a useful thing to have to hand. I carried lots of things, does everyone with a SAK in their pocket use it daily?
It took me a little while to make the connection as to what was causing the rash(*). The Zippo lived in the watch pocket of my jeans, the pocket was the perfect size but it meant that it was always held in exactly the same spot.
I retired it for a while in favour of a jetflame thing which was better but unreliable, something I later discovered was probably at least in part down to gas quality. Today I'm back to a Zippo but with the innards replaced with a jet cartridge. It's better in every way other than the button having a lower fiddle-factor. 😁
(* - that's what she said, etc.)
The humble BS 1363 plug.
Overengineered, bulky, and uses far more materials than the standard two pin plug used in the rest of Europe.
How can plug be a design classic when it could electrocute you? Before they sleeved the live and neutral pins it was possible to accidentally touch the live as you pulled the plug out.
It certainly woke you up!
Wooden deck chair.
As someone who goes through the comedic routine of trying to put one of this into shape at least once a year I have to object to its inclusion; there really must be a foolproof design.
I have to agree about the Zippo. I don't smoke and don't need one, but I want one!. They are such a great "thing".